Riverside
by Toxic-Plague13
Summary: It had been a long time coming. The smell of the wild sea and freedom was rife in the air and she was there.


**Riverside**

The last thing he remembered was telling Haytham to go protect his mother. He had no idea how he had come to be standing in this forest next a bit of water to big to be called a stream and to small to be called a river. He could hear a familiar voice singing in the distance, so he turns away from the river and looks into the forest. He can see people standing at what looks to be the edge of the forest to far away and much to bright to make out any details. A name finally entered his head to go along with the singing voice, he hadn't heard it in many years. He'd almost forgotten what Anne had sounded like, the recognition did much to lift his spirits but also left him with many questions. How had he gotten here? Why was Anne here? What was that song?

His mind swirled with many questions all of them unanswered as he tried to remember what had become of his family. Had they escaped? Had he been captured and left for dead? He began to walk along the waters edge towards where he could still hear Anne singing and now others talking. The sounds were familiar and comforting, he didn't understand why, they just were. As he got closer Anne's voice became clearer, the song still unfamiliar but Anne's voice was entirely unmistakable now. The closer he got to the edge of the forest the foggier the memory of the attack on his home became, the further from the events he felt. Coming closer did nothing to change the fact that he couldn't make out any features on the figures just outside the forest. The forest itself was beautiful, the ground full of ferns and the trees sparse but huge. The little river running through the wood diverted ahead but he couldn't actually see the bend, he just knew that it did. Which was strange but then again everything about this place was strange.

He only now realized there wasn't a single animal sound, which was strange because he was in a forest. Not a single bird chirped, nor did anything else. He could hear the rush of the water beside him and Anne singing but nothing else. Anne's voice was even clearer now, she was singing about a river but he didn't really recognize the song. Perhaps Anne had learned a new song or she was just singing something she hadn't sung in front of him before. The bend in the river was almost upon him now and it wasn't much further after that, that the forest ended. The song Anne was singing suddenly became muted, not further away just... Muffled. He stilled as he came even with the bend in the river. Something was different now, something had changed. Slowly he turned towards the river and everything came rushing back to him. His home had been attacked, he'd sent his son to protect his wife then... then he'd died. He'd been slain by one of the invaders. Now he was here walking towards his heaven. It was certainly his heaven though, for standing before him was Mary Read. As beautiful as the first day he'd seen her, the first time he'd seen the woman under the facade. She was watching him from the riverbank a small smile spread across her face.

His breath hitched and he breathed out her name on a sigh. Her smile turned to a smirk and she lifted her hand to beckon him forward. Like a puppet on a string he found himself moving towards her until there is but a few short feet between them and he realized that he can no longer hear the river and Anne's voice is barely a hum in the air around them. Finally after some time of just staring at each other she speaks "Fancy seeing you here Kenway. Still looking sleek and mean." she smirks as he break into helpless laughter. His laughter soon fades leaving them smiling at each other in the clearing by the water.

"Welcome home Kenway." she holds her hand out to him and he can't help but step closer and take it. They are standing close together now and he can practically smell her. A smell he had long since forgotten, the smell of the wild sea and freedom. He takes a deep breath and watches her tip her head back, then she leans into him and they're kissing. It was the most beautiful feeling in all the world. Something he'd never had the chance to savor in life was finally his in death. He'd missed her dearly, nothing had ever been the same after her death. Now however they were together and she was everything he had hoped and dreamed about. She pulls away and tugs him towards the edge of the forest. Suddenly he can hear Anne singing again and the water rushing by them. It's as if all the sounds and colors have been magnified.

"It's good to be home." they step through the trees and onto a familiar deck surrounded by old friends all laughing and drinking. They seamlessly join the other to many called greetings as the forest behind them fades from view. Leaving those long awaited to finally be reunited in the next life.

The End


End file.
